X23 Lauron (76 BC)

The Battle of Lauron 76 BC

Roman (Pompey) vs Sertorian (Sertorius)

Historical BackgroundIn an attempt to crush Sertorius against the walls of the city of Lauron, a town in Iberia Sertorius is laying siege to, Pompey’s rear was attacked by enemy forces in covered ambush positions.Pompey deployed his troops in a crescent formation, so the wings under Lucius Afranius and Marcus Petreius could enclose Sertorius' smaller force. However just as the wings were making contact, Sertorius' hidden force of 6,000 burst from ambush and moved forward to attack Pompey's rear.The wings were slow to react but eventually Pompey was able to form into square and hold off the enemy. His losses were horrendous, and half his cavalry was killed. Sertorius' losses were also heavy, but he continued the siege. Pompey could not move from camp and was forced to watch as Sertorius reduced Lauron and burned it for its betrayal. Once Pompey could escape he retreated back up the coast to the foot of the Pyrenees and stayed there the remainder of the year.(The above was slightly adapted from Ian’s Great Battles of History website)

Victory:Victory is 9 Banners for both sides. The Roman Army receives 2 Banners if Sertorius is eliminated. The Sertorian side receives 2 Banners if Pompey is eliminated. The first Roman Medium Cavalry unit eliminated does not count as a Banner for the Sertorian.

Special Rules:Leader Command, Sertorius, Pompey& Rally Special Rules:Sertorius can cancel both a retreat and a sword hit if present with the unit receiving such hits. All other Leaders may cancel a retreat or a sword hit if present with the unit.Units on both sides involved in close combat with the support of a Leader may only count one helmet hit amongst those rolled to inflict a hit on an opposing unit, unless Sertorius or Pompey is the supporting leader---then up to two helmet hits may be counted.Sertorius when moving & ordered by himself without an attached unit normally may move up to six hexes through any passable hexes instead of the regular three hexes for Leaders in the rulebook.

Units and the Rally Card: No unit can be rallied to beyond five blocks or its strength at the start of the game whichever is less. If a Player rolls “swords” when attempting to rally he may freely chose which unit gets a block back.

Roman Legionary Infantry Rules:The following types of infantry units in the game on BOTH sides are assumed to be Roman Legionaries: Heavy Infantry, and Medium Infantry, ALL of these units are considered to be Roman Legionary Infantry. The combatants in this era of Roman civil war often recruited non-citizens from different areas of the Roman Republican Empire into their Legions and as a result the quality of such forces sometimes varied widely.

Roman Pilum:Each Roman Legionary Infantry unit starts with a Pilum Marker. The Pilum is a one-time use weapon that is generally fired right before a Roman Legionary unit attacks in close-combat or is itself attacked by the enemy in close-combat. Once the pilum is fired (or lost see below) –the Pilum marker is removed from the Roman unit to indicate that the pilum has been expended and the unit may not throw Pilum for the rest of the battle.Just before a Roman unit with pilum is attacked or is itself attacked by the enemy for the very first time in the battle in close-combat it throws its pilum—roll one die and apply normal hits for swords, color, or a Flag/retreat hit Afterwards remove the Pilum marker. The act of throwing the pilum is not considered to be part of the Close-Combat—so any result of the pilum throw is resolved before the Close-combat. If two Roman Legionary Infantry units that have not thrown pilum yet engage the attacker resolves his pilum throw first. An attached Leader may use his special ability to cancel a “swords” hit that was inflicted via a pilum hit (see special Command rules) on the unit he is stacked with.Roman units, adjacent to the enemy, that have not expended their Pilum may also be ordered to throw Pilum if the card “Darken the Sky” is played by their commanding player. The Player picks one adjacent enemy unit and throws two dice –apply the results just as one would before close combat—and remove the Pilum Marker.

Roman Relief Moves & Cohort Maneuvers:Adjacent and on the same side Roman Legionary Infantry, instead of moving, may switch places in a “Relief/Cohort Maneuver”. Relief/Cohort Maneuvers may only be conducted through the play of Section cards ONLY. Instead of ordering one unit via a section card, the controlling Player may order a pair of adjacent Legionary Infantry units to switch hexes—at least one of the units switching places must not be adjacent to an enemy unit. A unit that switched places via the Relief/Cohort Maneuver into a hex adjacent to the enemy may close combat in the same player-turn. Sertorian Auxillia units may also conduct Roman Relief/Maneuver with each other or Sertorian Legionary infantry units.

Sertorian Roman-Trained Auxillia UnitsThe Sertorian Auxillia units represent the bulk of Sertorius’ infantry from the tribes of Iberia. These units used a more open Iberian skirmish style combat order in battle, but also were trained by Sertorius and his rebel citizen forces in Roman tactics, discipline, and weaponsa) Sertorian Auxillia units may evade if attacked by Roman Legionary units.b) Sertorian Auxillia units may conduct Roman Relief/Maneuver with each other or Sertorian Legionary infantry units.

Sertorian Elite Legion:Note that the two initial Sertorian Heavy Infantry units start the game with five blocks rather than the normal four blocks. These are Sertorius’ crack troops, made up of 4,000 or so Roman citizens, the veterans of many a bloody fight both in Iberia and Africa while under his command. Treat these units as normal Heavy Infantry for all other purposes, but have the advantage of an extra initial block and may rally back to a full five block strength through use of a rally card.

Sertorian Initial Ambush Force Special Rules:The two Sertorian Warrior units (starting in H1 & I3) and the two Sertorian Auxillia units (starting in H2 & I4), And the Sertorian Leader “Manlius” in I3 are all considered to be part of the Sertorian Ambush Force.A) Units from the Sertorian Ambush force that engage in close-combat attacks on the very first Sertorian turn do so at +1 Dice. Roman units attacked by the Ambush Force in the very first Sertorian turn may not throw pilum and automatically lose and expend their pilum marker without any die roll.B) Units from the Sertorian Ambush Force may, throughout the scenario, retreat in other directions in lieu of towards their own mapedge. Such “other than to mapedge retreats” may not be made into hexes adjacent to Roman units and the retreat must end the same number of hexes from their initial hex as the required retreat distance.C) The Leader & Auxillia Units from the Sertorian Ambush Force may, throughout the scenario, evade in other directions in lieu of towards their own mapedge. Such “other than to mapedge evasions” may not be made into hexes adjacent to Roman units.

Outflanking---This is an easy way of introducing facing and flanks to the game with little fuss—it can be retrofitted to other scenarios where appropriate:A unit is said to be “Outflanked” if it is surrounded in all six adjacent hexes by either enemy units, or hexes adjacent to an enemy unit. The presence of friendly units or impassable terrain does not negate an “Outflanked” situation in any way. Units on the board edges (and not surrounded by six adjacent hexes) cannot be “Outflanked”.Effects of being Outflanked: “Outflanked” units when battling back roll only half the normal number of dice they would be normally entitled to rounded up—to a maximum of only two dice—“Outflanked” units when battling back never hit on helmet rolls even if supported by a leader. A unit’s “Outflanked” situation is judged at the instant it battles back.

Optional Rules:Sertorian Veteran Mercenaries: The sole Sertorian Light Cavalry unit is made up of Veteran horsemen from Maurentania in Africa located on the other side of the Pillars of Hercules from Iberia. When battling back only they hit on swords—they also only need retreat two hexes per retreat result implemented.Roman Elite Slingers:The sole Roman Slinger unit hits on swords when executing missile fire against Sertorian light foot units & also hits on swords when battlling-back in close combat against any Sertorian unit.Veteran Initiative when ordered by a Line CardAll Sertorian Legionary Infantry, and Roman Heavy Infantry units that are ordered by a Line Command card may move up to two hexes and close combat at their option at +1 normal die roll.